Course Reflection:

Over the course of the past eight weeks, I have learned more about myself than during any other class I have taken through Walden. I have developed my teaching and leadership “voice” and began setting and accomplishing small but valuable educational goals. I have always had an “I’ll get to that later” kind of attitude—which at some point becomes quite unmanageable after a while. After replacing that attitude with more of a “no better time than now” outlook, I am finding that I feel accomplished and motivated to continue setting goals, monitoring progress and eventually evaluating my success of my attempts. The GAME plan has given me a whole new outlook and helped me grow as an educator—which has helped improve my students’ learning experiences and attitudes.

I have also become more open with my colleagues about my ideas and experiences with technology. I am helping them become more comfortable with the resources available to them at our school and they, in turn, feel more open to ask me questions when they are struggling or have their own new ideas. Our team is stronger now, and our students are reaping the benefits from our new team rapport.

Lastly, I have begun to develop ways to incorporate what I have learned in this class into the tasks my students are expected to complete. Setting manageable goals is such a valuable tool for students to master—and I am beginning to implement activities and class discussions that center around that vital skill. I am utilizing KWHL charts more regularly, and I am planning on starting the year off next year with a quarterly goal setting activity catered to the learning that planned for each individual quarter. Technology goals will be set simultaneously with content goals—I want the two to go hand in hand in my classroom. I feel like I am a better teacher for finally starting to focus on my own development as an individual educator—and my students are benefiting from my new found strengths and comfort level with technology, goal-setting, and leadership.

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students:

The GAME plan process would be a beneficial tool for use in the classroom and a skill to teach students to utilize independently. I have found a lot of personal success and have been surprised with how easily my plan fell into place, and I feel comfortable and motivated to pass the skill onto my students. It would be a great tool to use at the beginning of the year—for students to set goals for themselves in relation to the science curriculum and technology areas they feel they can or should work to improve on over the course of the school year. It is something we can complete within the first week and monitor/edit as the year progresses. I can imagine some students will need to edit more than others as they find success and wish to move further past their development goals.

In relation to the science curriculum, I already use a pseudo-GAME plan process in my class at the beginning of each unit. I have my students create a K-W-H-L chart which becomes a flexible document that the students edit and use as a tool to help them focus in on their goals. How else can I encourage students to set goals and maintain focus on monitoring their acquisition of their goals? I am sure it is a skill that not all of them practice daily, and some of them will struggle with the concept.

Revising MY GAME Plan:

I am making great strides towards both of my goals—but after further review, I do not think that one of my goals can ever be “achieved.” I need to continue to make efforts to become more of a leader on my team at school and as a staff member. I do not think that goal will ever go away; it is something that I need to perpetually monitor and practice. It may become easier and less conscious, but I will always need to focus on getting my voice and ideas heard at my school because they are valuable and beneficial to the student population. I am also still working towards building a unit that incorporates a global learning community. I plan on completing this goal next year, once I have researched fully and found an applicable, relevant connection to my classroom. I have found a few options, but will continue to search and learn more about the options available to me and my students.

Based on the NETS-T, I would like to “demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations,” more specifically I would like to become more knowledgeable concerning the Smart Technology available at my school. I recently attended a school-wide seminar about the Smart technology and student response systems, and it was intriguing and exciting. I had no idea how many neat options were available at my finger tips. I plan on working at least one Smart lesson into my curriculum before the interim of fourth quarter. I cannot wait to see how my students respond to these new methods.

I am going to continue to experiment with my technology options and keep an open mind. I will also be continuing to develop my leadership skills and voice at future meetings and in general. I am excited to see how these new skills work their way into my teaching practices—my students stand to reap the benefits from my new approach to my own learning.

Resource:

National Education Standards for Teachers (2008) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.